Batkid Cost San Francisco $105,000, Says Paper

San Francisco may have made one Batman-loving boy's dreams come true for a day, but it didn't come without a cost – $105,000 to be exact, reports the Buzzkill DailySan Francisco Chronicle. (Non-paywall story at KGO News.)

For those living in a hole, the saga of the Batkid unfolded last Friday when 20,000 strangers gathered downtown to cheer on 5-year-old leukemia survivor Miles Scott as he fought crime with a costumed Batman. The heart-lifting event, organized by the Make-a-Wish Foundation, culminated with Mayor Ed Lee giving the armor-suited tot a chocolate key to the city. The Internet responded with a well-justified AWWWWW, and to this day news outlets are still reporting the original story.

But unfortunately, there's no such thing as a free Batkid. The costs for handling the event might not come from where you'd expect, though, like police overtime and road closures. Rather, the city decided to drop some cash to make the day look super-good for the crowds, spending much of the $105,000 on a "giant TV screen and professional staging," says KGO.

San Francisco's government says it plans to recoup this expense with fees that groups use to rent the local convention center. (I'm not sure if that makes complete sense – where would these fees go otherwise?) Still, some people are a little upset over the use of public funds, to judge from a highly scientific survey of Twitter. Like these guys: